Dear Aeralyn,

Last week you turned twenty months old.  I realized then that I had yet to even write your nineteen month letter, so I decided to put them together.  I was feeling a little like I had let you down because I didn’t get around to writing your letter last month.  And then I started thinking about all the fun things that we had been doing these past few weeks, and it made me feel a little better.  You may not a have a baby book that has every little detail filled out, or an elaborate scrapbook full of memories, but you do have a mommy who loves to spend time playing with you, and that is more important right now. 

You have changed so much these past two months.  Your vocabulary has more than tripled what it was when I wrote your eighteenth month letter.  Your favorite word by far is ”No”.  The answer to almost every question is ”No”.  Even when daddy asked you if you were a good girl for mommy the other day, you said “No” very nonchalantly.  Well, atleast you were honest.

That brings me to my next point…

You are what all the experts call a “Spirited Child”.  I should really let them put your picture in their books next to the Spirited Child description.  You are on the go non-stop from the time you wake up in the morning until the time you go to bed at night.  You have opinions about the way things should go during your day, and if something happens and things don’t go just right, you let everyone know that you are not happy about it.  I’m learning to deal with your tantrums a little better now than when they first started, even though I will admit that it is tough.  There are some days when I think that if you throw one more fit, I’m going to list you on ebay.  This stage you are going through is the hardest so far, but I know we will make it through. 

I’m also learning to stop comparing you to everyone else’s kid.  You are your own person.  You have your own way of expressing your thoughts and emotions, and I’m finally realizing that that is okay.  Remember that one day when you have kids of your own.  Trust me, it will save you ALOT of aggravation.

As soon as you wake up in the morning, you want to put on your shoes and head outside.  We spend more time outside than in these days since the weather is so nice.  You love to swing, climb, and slide on your little swingset.  Most of all, you LOVE to go fishing at the river.  We have already been fishing three times so far, and you have loved every minute of each time.  You are not the slightest bit afraid of the fish, and you get so excited when daddy or me catches one so you can touch it.  You also, much to my horror, like to play with the worms and the crickets that we use to catch the fish.  I guess you are going to be a bit of a tomboy. 

I have had so much fun lately watching your imagination at work.  You have started pretending quite often lately.  You will pretend to change your babies diapers and feed them a bottle.  You will “read” books to your stuffed animals, and make your little Backyardigans figurines dance.  Which, by the way, you LOVE the Backyardigans.  Your favorite movie is Surf’s Up, and you ask for it atleast once a day.  As soon as I put the DVD in, you start to dance and sing the songs that they sing.  You dance during the whole movie and I’m sure would watch it 25 times a day if I let you.  At first I worried about letting you watch TV, but as much as you love watching the Backyardigans, you love to play outside, color, read books, and play with your toys even more.  I’m happy about that and I hope it stays that way.

You have started communicating to me when you want things, which makes my life and yours a billion times easier.  If you want a drink, you will say “I grink, I grink!”, or if you want to go outside, you will say “I shoes on!”.  You will say “more” and do the sign for it when you want more of something.  You will say “Surf’s Up” and grab the remote when you want to watch your movie.  You say yes and no when we ask you questions (although mostly you just say no), and you follow simple commands with ease.  You can open the refrigerator and grab whatever snack you want, and you love to help me pour your drink.  It is amazing how much you have changed into a little functioning person.  It seems like it has all happened overnight. 

I almost afraid of typing this for fear that something will change, but I feel like I need to put this in here; You are the best eater I have ever seen when it comes to toddlers.  You almost always finish whatever it is I give you for all of your meals, and you eat plenty of snacks to keep you satisfied throughout the day.  Some of your favorite foods are: cheese (of course), yogurt, tomatoes, ranch dressing and ketchup for dipping, grapes, oranges, raisins, bagels with cream cheese, cinnamon toast, spaghetti ( I have learned that I can pretty much hide ANYTHING in spaghetti sauce and you will eat it.  I wonder if it’s because of all that spaghetti I ate while I was pregnant with you?), grilled chicken (you’re not much on fried chicken or chicken nuggets, which is so weird but totally ok with me), grilled cheese, potatoes, butter beans, corn, green beans, sweet peas, carrots, fruit snacks, anything and everything that is sweet, peanut butter sandwiches (hold the jelly)…and seriously this list could go on forever.  But, my point is, that I love that you are a such a good eater.  I love that you are almost always willing to try something, even if it looks a little weird.  I realize that most toddlers are extremely picky about what they eat, and that I’m very lucky to have such a good eater.  Now, just keep it up.   

Punkin’, you are mine and your daddy’s pride and joy.  We are having so much fun with you right now, and we know it’s only going to get better from here.  You have made me slow down and enjoy the smallest, simplest things.  I can never thank you enough for showing me what is really important in life.

I love you more than you will ever know,

Mama

We had a fun filled and busy Easter weekend.  Want proof? Here you go.

So, it begins.  Potty training, that is.  This is something I have dreaded ever since I first thought of having kids.  I haven’t been in a big hurry to start with Aeralyn, but she has recently started showing some interest in the potty.  Gammie and Papa bought her a potty seat for Christmas, and Aaron put it together a couple of weekends ago.  She’s only eighteen months old, so I’m not pushing her or expecting alot from her right now.  But yesterday, she pee-peed in the potty.  I clapped and danced and made a HUGE deal out of it, of course.  And I gave her a treat (a marshmallow).  Now she thinks that just by sitting on the potty, she should get a treat.  Maybe after a few more days she will get it. 

Today while she was sitting on the potty, I decided to sing a song to get her motivated.  I sang, complete with killer dance moves I might add, “Potty like a big, Potty like a big girl…”  to the tune of Party Like a Rock Star.  I know, I’m so creative.  Problem is, she liked my song and dance so well that she decided to stand up and dance to it while peeing all over the rug under her feet. 

What can I say, I’m a rock star.    

Really though, I shouldn’t get too excited since I caught her the other day dancing to the rhythm of the dishwasher.  Yes, the dishwasher.  This kid will dance to anything. 

Dear Aeralyn,

You’ve been eighteen months old for almost two weeks now, and I’m still not having any easier time with it.  Eighteen months sounds so toddlerish and so much less babyish to me, and that is very hard to handle.  You are growing entirely too fast for my liking.

 Today was your well baby checkup.  You have finally exceeded the 20lb mark.  You are actually  21lbs even, and 30 inches long.  You are staying in the slightly below average range for weight and height.  Thankfully your pediatrician is sweet and reassures me that you are a healthy girl, just a little on the petite side.  You are just now getting into 12-18 months clothing, much to my despair because mommy thought she was smart by buying all your summer clothes last year on clearance in 18-24 months size.  Maybe you will grow into them before summer is over. 

Your pediarician was so impressed with how social and sweet you are.  You never once protested when he was listening to your heart or looking in your ears and nose.  He even held you for a little bit while you smiled and laughed at him.  I couldn’t be happier with your outgoing personality. 

We turned your carseat around in the car this month, and you were ecstatic.  You love to look out the window and play with your toys without having your legs squished into the back seat.  I like that I can see you better now and hand you things easier.  Like your cup for instance, that you drop no less than 37 times in a 5 minute car ride.  But atleast you are happier and more comfortable now.   

Each month, you have learned so much that it has been hard for me to keep up.  This month is definitely no exception.  You are almost constantly talking now.  You still have alot of baby jibber jabber, but you also say plenty of phrases and words that we can understand.  A few nights ago after your bath, you were examing the picture hanging above your changing table.  It is a picture of you sleeping when you were a week old.  You looked at the picture and said “It’s a bay-bee” followed by “It’s a cute bay-bee!”.  After laughter and praise from me and your daddy, you kept going.  You said “Bay-bee night night” and “sleepy”.  Then you kissed the picture and said “awwww”.  It’s amazing to me just how much you understand about the world around you. 

Your sweet and compassionate side has really started to show this month.  One of your favorite things to do is wrap your baby doll in a blanket and rock her in your rocking chair.  You softly pat her back and whisper “It’s awwww-wite baby.  Shhh.”  It makes me melt every time to see you act like that.  You have a routine at night where you run to give daddy hugs and kisses, and then you tell him  “Wuv you bay-bee, night night”, and he repeats the same to you.  Then you come to me and repeat the process all over again while you nestle down for me to rock you to sleep.  It is by far my favorite part of the day. 

Happy eighteen months punkin’!  I love you more than words could ever express.

Love,
Mama

Hey y’all!  Aeralyn is over her little bout with the flu, which was thankfully not a terrible one.  I somehow managed to avoid it altogether, which is obviously a miracle.  Although, I did manage to catch strep throat.  That sucked royally, but atleast it wasn’t the flu. 

I’m glad that you all think this strawberry peeling nonsense is just as weird as I do.  And yes, peeling a strawberry can be done.  As long as you have a very sharp knife, a steady hand, and somebody who has more patience than I do.  Aaron does it every summer.  He painstakingly peels every little strawberry that he wants for his yummy strawberry shortcake.  And I point and laugh while eating mine right in front of him saying “You know, if you weren’t so weird, you could be eating that instead of peeling it!”  I know, I’m mean.  Also, I don’t peel his strawberries for him because 1.) he is a big boy and can do it himself 2.) everyone gets nervous when I hold a knife and 3.) there would be no strawberry left to eat if I was doing the peeling.  Which is exactly why I am not allowed to peel potatoes or cucumbers, or any other thing that needs to be peeled.  But wait!!  Now I can because Santa was nice enough and brought me the Rotato!  And I love it more than I could ever express. 

Now, I’m going to beat this strawberry thing in the ground and never mention it again.  Okay, maybe not ever, but atleast not for a while.  I just have to tell you this story so that you will know exactly how strange my husband really is. 

On our wedding night, we stayed at a nice hotel in downtown Savannah.  When we got there, we noticed someone had sent chocolate covered strawberries with a bottle of champagne to our room.  They were from my sister, and I thought that was such a nice gesture.  Very romantic, right?  Except no, not at all because when I tried to give one to Aaron, he made a grimacing face and refused.  I thought, you have got to be kidding me, but sadly, he was not.  He couldn’t eat them because he couldn’t stand the seeds.  So, I ate the whole plate of strawberries by myself, and that turned out to be much less romantic than sharing them with my new husband, as you can imagine.    

So, this seems to be some kind of illness that my daughter has inherited from her father.  I have tried several times over the last week to get her to eat strawberries, and it just ain’t happening.  Oh well, more for me!

Wow, it has been a while since I’ve done a Tatertot Tuesday.  She is so busy it is hard to keep up with her these days!  Here are some pictures of her and her best friend, Flurry. 

I just shared a big bowl of fresh strawberries and grapes with Aeralyn.  We also shared the same spoon.  Somehow, I seemed to forget that she has the flu. 

Gee, that was a bright move.

Also, my kid doesn’t like strawberries.  Yes, STRAWBERRIES!  And they were good and sweet too.  Who seriously doesn’t like strawberries?! 

Oh yes, I forgot.  Her father also doesn’t like strawberries.  Unless they are peeled.  It must be hereditary. 

Hello internet!  Hope you haven’t forgotten me.  I’ve sat down to write a post several times in the past couple of weeks, but as soon as I start writing, I delete everthing and walk away.  I’m in one of my moods right now where I’m just feeling a little blah, and I can’t really think of anything positive to say.  Woe is me, yadda yadda yadda, and who wants to listen to that?  Especially when there is no logical reason for me to be in this mood. 

I’ll give you a little taste of what it’s like to be around me right now:  Yesterday, I needed to go to WalMart (don’t even get me started on how much I hate WalMart) to get some groceries and other things for Aaron’s granny.  There was a LONG list of things for me to get because she is moving into a new house and instead of moving all of her 90,000 year old things with her, I was there to get her some new stuff.  The list was 2 pages long, and I was prepared for a marathon shopping trip.  I remembered to bring a ton of snacks, books, and toys to keep Aeralyn entertained.  I remembered to take the stroller out of the trunk of my car so that I would have enough room to fit all the stuff I was going to get.  I remembered everything I would have normally fogotten, except for the list.  The TWO PAGE list that my inlaws and I had painstakingly agonized over to make sure that we had everything to make granny’s transition into the new house a smooth one.  I noticed that I didn’t have it as soon as we got in the store.  I emptied the contents of my enormous diaper bag right in the middle of the aisle, frantically searching for it.  All the while I’m picturing exactly where I left it, but I still kept looking because maybe, just MAYBE it was in there somewhere.  As you can probably guess, it wasn’t.  And since I live out in the middle of nowhere (seriously, it takes me a minimum of 20 minutes to get anywhere), it wasn’t like I could just dash home and get it.  So instead I fought back tears in the middle of WalMart because I new if I let them start, that I would end up having a breakdown right there. 

So, you can see that my emotions are a little wacko right now, and for whatever reason I’m feeling sorry for myself.  I’m doing you a huge favor by not posting much right now, trust me. 

Also, Aeralyn has the flu.  This is definitely the most pitiful I have ever seen her, and it is breaking my heart.  We are quarantined to the house through Sunday, and if she still has a fever then, I’ll have to take her back in for more tests.  So keep your fingers crossed that this passes quickly and my little girl gets back to her silly self. 

I hearby declare that Valentine’s Day shall never occur on a Thursday for the rest of eternity.  Thursday is just such a blah kind of day if you ask me, which you didn’t of course, but I have an annoying habit of telling you things that you never cared to know.  And also rambling. 

Back to Valentine’s day.  This one will be rather uneventful considering that my husband will be working until 8pm tonight.  I guess you can say we already celebrated last Saturday since we went to the mall and I got to pick out a couple of cute spring/summer outifits.  And then my lovely husband bought them for me without even a groan or an eye roll.  Then, THEN!!  he proceeded to ask me if I needed new shoes to go along with the new outfits, and y’all?  I almost died right there because he was totally serious.  The only reason I am documenting this is because I am sure that it will never happen again.  

After that we went to our favorite mexican restaurant where I got my first alchoholic drink (a margarita, of course) since November 2005.  Yes. you read that right.  You have to remember that I have either been  a.) pregnant or b.) breastfeeding since December 2005, so I was in dire need of a drink.  And it was so good, but oh so incredibly LARGE.  Also, a little strong, but that was probably just due to the fact mentioned above.  After half of it, I am sorry to say that I was a little on the tipsy side.  It’s sad really, terribly sad.

So that was my Valentine’s extravaganza.  I planned to take some pictures of Aeralyn in her cute little Valentine’s outfit, but when she woke up from her nap, her diaper had leaked all over it.  It is currently in the washing machine and she will most likely be wearing it again tomorrow when I will take pictures and just tell her that they were from Valentine’s day 18 years from now.  

Hope you’re feeling the love today!    

Dear Aeralyn,

Almost every month I start your letter out with something along the lines of “I can’t believe this month is already over.”  This time, I can’t say that.  Your seventeeth month seemed to drag on and on.  Even though there were alot of disappointments in other areas of our lives this month, you still continued to grow and blossom in so many ways.   Without you, I don’t think I could have made it through.

 You have achieved so many important milestones this month.  One of the most important (to me) is one that I have personally been waiting for since the day you were born.  You, my dearest little punkin’, finally sleep through the night.  You started 2 weeks ago and you haven’t stopped yet.  Coincidentally, I seem to have forgotten how to sleep all night without waking up.  I guess that’s just the way it goes.  Along with sleeping all night, you are also taking better naps.  I dare say that we are almost following a routine now, something I could have never imagined a few short months ago.

Something else I couldn’t imagine was you not breastfeeding.  Your daddy kept making jokes that I would have to follow you to college so you could still nurse.  And I didn’t disaggree because I was a little scared of that myself.  It is hard to believe that less than two months ago you were still nursing 3-5 times during the day and night.  But now?  You are fully and completely weaned.  As in all day and all night.  And your precious nursing pillow that you were so incredibly attached to has been hiding in a closet for a little over a month.  It’s a bittersweet transition for me.  You are becoming much less a baby and more and more a toddler every day.

Another huge milestone is that you have said a couple of three word sentences this month.  Your first sentece was ”Where’s the ball?” when you were looking for the balls for your ball popper.  Another one was to Emma (the baby that I keep 3 days a week).  She was crying because you pushed her down, and you said “I’m sorry baby.”  You followed shortly with “Shhh baby.”  I’m always amazed with you.  I remember before I had you and I used to hear women talk about how their baby said their first sentence, or some other seemingly silly milestone.  I would think “What’s the big deal?”  But, oh my, how big of a deal it is.  I could just explode with pride sometimes.  I have become that mom.  And I’m loving every minute of it.

You have 7 teeth now, and I hate to say that you have used them to bite a little more frequently than I would like.  You have quite a temper, and all I can do is shake my head because I know that you get it honestly.  You got a double dose of spitfire from your daddy and me, but I’m confident that you will learn that it won’t get you very far.  I can’t imagine what age 2 is going to bring. 

You have been such a ray of sunshine lately in all of our lives.  Even in the darkest of moments, you give everyone a reason to smile, and I am so grateful for that.  You have a hold on my heart, and I can’t even remember what I ever did without you.  I love you more than I will ever be able to express.

Love,
Mama

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Okay y’all.  Sorry to disappoint, but the BIG news was not that Aeralyn will be a big sister soon.  Thank goodness.  The big news, if you haven’t already figured it out, is that she is WEANED and SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! Holy cow!  I still can’t believe it, and I’m probably totally jinxing myself by putting it in…well, not writing, but type I guess.  Also, kudos to Alicia for guessing that she is speaking in sentences.  That is also another part of the big news.  So, YAY!  Sorry if it’s not what you wanted to hear, but thank GOD it’s not what you people wanted to hear.  Sheesh.